Textus Receptus Bibles
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
| 1:1 | The Reuelation of Iesus Christ, which God gaue vnto him, to shewe vnto his seruants things which must shortly be done: which he sent, and shewed by his Angel vnto his seruant Iohn, |
| 1:2 | Who bare record of ye word of God, and of the testimonie of Iesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. |
| 1:3 | Blessed is he that readeth, and they that heare the wordes of this prophecie, and keepe those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand. |
| 1:4 | Iohn, to the seuen Churches which are in Asia, Grace be with you, and peace from him, Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, and from the seuen Spirits which are before his Throne, |
| 1:5 | And from Iesus Christ, which is that faithful witnes, and that first begotten of the dead, and that Prince of the Kings of the earth, vnto him that loued vs, and washed vs from our sinnes in his blood, |
| 1:6 | And made vs Kings and Priests vnto God euen his Father, to him I say be glory, and dominion for euermore, Amen. |
| 1:7 | Beholde, he commeth with cloudes, and euery eye shall see him: yea, euen they which pearced him thorowe: and all kinreds of the earth shall waile before him, Euen so, Amen. |
| 1:8 | I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, Which is, and Which was, and Which is to come, euen the Almightie. |
| 1:9 | I Iohn, euen your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdome and patience of Iesus Christ, was in the yle called Patmos, for the worde of God, and for the witnessing of Iesus Christ. |
| 1:10 | And I was rauished in spirit on the Lordes day, and heard behinde me a great voyce, as it had bene of a trumpet, |
| 1:11 | Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, that first and that last: and that which thou seest, write in a booke, and send it vnto the seuen Churches which are in Asia, vnto Ephesus, and vnto Smyrna, and vnto Pergamus, and vnto Thyatira, and vnto Sardis, and vnto Philadelphia, and vnto Laodicea. |
| 1:12 | Then I turned backe to see the voyce, that spake with me: and when I was turned, I sawe seuen golden candlestickes, |
| 1:13 | And in the middes of the seuen candlestickes, one like vnto the Sonne of man, clothed with a garment downe to the feete, and girded about the pappes with a golden girdle. |
| 1:14 | His head, and heares were white as white wooll, and as snowe, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, |
| 1:15 | And his feete like vnto fine brasse, burning as in a fornace: and his voyce as the sounde of many waters. |
| 1:16 | And he had in his right hand seuen starres: and out of his mouth went a sharpe two edged sword: and his face shone as the sunne shineth in his strength. |
| 1:17 | And when I saw him, I fell at his feete as dead: then he laid his right hand vpon me, saying vnto me, Feare not: I am that first and that last, |
| 1:18 | And am aliue, but I was dead: and beholde, I am aliue for euermore, Amen: and I haue the keyes of hell and of death. |
| 1:19 | Write the things which thou hast seene, and the things which are, and the things which shall come hereafter. |
| 1:20 | The misterie of the seuen starres which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seuen golden candlestickes, is this, The seuen starres are the Angels of the seuen Churches: and the seuen candlestickes which thou sawest, are the seuen Churches. |
Geneva Bible 1560/1599
The Geneva Bible is one of the most influential and historically significant translations of the Bible into English, preceding the King James translation by 51 years. It was the primary Bible of 16th century Protestantism and was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan. The language of the Geneva Bible was more forceful and vigorous and because of this, most readers strongly preferred this version at the time.
The Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars who, fleeing from the reign of Queen Mary, had found refuge in Switzerland. During the reign of Queen Mary, no Bibles were printed in England, the English Bible was no longer used in churches and English Bibles already in churches were removed and burned. Mary was determined to return Britain to Roman Catholicism.
The first English Protestant to die during Mary's turbulent reign was John Rogers in 1555, who had been the editor of the Matthews Bible. At this time, hundreds of Protestants left England and headed for Geneva, a city which under the leadership of Calvin, had become the intellectual and spiritual capital of European Protestants.
One of these exiles was William Whittingham, a fellow of Christ Church at Oxford University, who had been a diplomat, a courtier, was much traveled and skilled in many languages including Greek and Hebrew. He eventually succeeded John Knox as the minister of the English congregation in Geneva. Whittingham went on to publish the 1560 Geneva Bible.
This version is significant because, it came with a variety of scriptural study guides and aids, which included verse citations that allow the reader to cross-reference one verse with numerous relevant verses in the rest of the Bible, introductions to each book of the Bible that acted to summarize all of the material that each book would cover, maps, tables, woodcut illustrations, indices, as well as other included features, all of which would eventually lead to the reputation of the Geneva Bible as history's very first study Bible.